Sky takes on Skype over trademark concerns

Who put the Sky into Skype?

Sky has officially opposed plans for VOIP service Skype to trademark its bubble logo, with Sky fearing that consumers may get it confused with its own.

Skype is currently trying to trademark the bubble design in European Union, Norway, India and Brazil, something it needs to do before it floats on the Nasdaq later this year.

Skype is obviously trying to secure the trademark sharp-ish, so having Sky coming in to flummox its plans will be frustrating for the company.

In a statement Skype said about the importance of the logo: "We regard our brand as one of our most valuable assets. The unlicensed use of our brand by third parties could harm our reputation, cause confusion among our users, and severely undermine the value of our brand in the marketplace."

Name checking

Skype will be hoping that despite the opposition, it will be able to secure the trademark – something it has already done in the likes of Switzerland.

If its appeals are not met, then Skype will find it difficult to stop third parties using its name, which means that its monetising opportunities would be limited.

Just this year we have seen the company teaming its branding up with a number of TV manufacturers, including Samsung, Panasonic and LG.

This seems to be the start of a big expansion plan for the company. That's if it can appease BSkyB somehow.